The fluorochemical 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-2-(1,1,2,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropoxy) propanoic acid (“GenX acid” or simply “GenX”) is employed in a process (i.e., the “GenX process”) that has been used in products such as food packaging, paints, cleaning products, non-stick coatings, outdoor fabrics and firefighting foam. The GenX process was developed to replace processes that produced other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS). Most US industries have phased out production of PFOA and PFOS because of concerns about health risks to humans and, instead, have employed processes that employ alternative PFAS, such as GenX. Although there is a substantial body of knowledge regarding health risks from older PFAS like PFOS and PFOA, there is much less knowledge about the health risks associated with new PFAS like GenX.
Recently, GenX has been detected in Cape Fear River near Wilmington, N.C., presumably originating from a plant employing the GenX process upstream from Wilmington. Because of concerns regarding the yet unknown health risks to humans exposed to GenX, this event has triggered significant interest in finding inexpensive and sensitive methods for detecting GenX in other public water sources that are near plants that employ the GenX process.